Graduate Students

Name Position  Research Area  Email Bio
Bi Yue PhD Student Developmental Psychology e0321222@u.nus.edu I am interested in exploring social-cognitive development processes in children, especially the interplay between theory of mind abilities and deceptive behaviours in children.
Chai Jing Wen PhD Student Cognitive Neuroscience j.chai@u.nus.edu I am broadly interested in the domain of social and cognitive neuroscience. My current research focuses on the impact of reward on cognitive mechanisms such as attention and decision-making.
Jazton Chern Jie Sern Masters Student e0175392@u.nus.edu My current research interest revolves around language acquisition and processing. Specifically, it involves the use of network analysis to make sense of our mental lexicon. I find this area of research to be of particular interest as growing up, I personally have always enjoyed learning about different languages and cultures in general. I found it meaningful to be able to apply some of the skills I have picked up to improve on my understanding of this area of interest. I play football several times a week. Outside of work, I am a professional singer in the shower. My other hobbies include cooking, eating, and sitting in front of the screen for hours as I go down the YouTube rabbit hole.
Sarah Chin Masters Student e0776034@u.nus.edu I am currently pursuing my Masters Degree under the supervision of Dr Ryan Hong. Broadly, my research interests lie in the domains of personality and social psychology, particularly their application in the organisational context. This includes personnel selection and assessment, as well as maximising employee motivation, performance, and wellbeing.
Chua Khai Qing Masters Student chua.khaiqing@u.nus.edu I am working with Dr Patricia Chen on motivation and self-regulation in young children and adults. I am broadly interested in how people perceive themselves and others, and how it affects their goal-pursuit. My interests involve social cognition and moral development in young children and adults as well.
Chua Ming Kai Pierce Masters Student Social Psychology piercechua@u.nus.edu Hi! I am currently pursuing a Masters degree under the mentorship of Dr Eddie Tong. I am broadly interested in the field of emotions with a current focus on how emotions affect functional and behavioural outcomes. As a self-proclaimed jack of all trades, I have had many hobbies, but currently, I like to spend my free time playing games and reading fiction.
Ryan Chua Qi Xian Masters Student Moral Psychology ryancqx@u.nus.edu I am interested in the role of emotions in moral judgment.
Joanne Chua PhD Student psycsaj@nus.edu.sg I am undertaking a PhD with a focus on Clinical Psychology, specifically on competency-based training and supervision.
Eelama Devi Paraniruva Singhan PhD Student e0966396@u.nus.edu I am pursuing my PhD under the supervision of Dr Ryan Hong. I joined this programme with the aim of gaining a more nuanced understanding and in-depth knowledge of relationships between personality and psychopathology and with the hope that this research informs interventions for the vulnerable population in our society. Broadly speaking, I am interested in exploring associations between dispositional traits and social-cognitive processes and their additive effects on psychopathology. I am also interested in are elucidating etiological processes that are involved in the development of psychopathology including substance use or exploring transdiagnostic pathways and cognitive vulnerabilities in relation to internalizing symptoms. In my free time, I love reading thrillers and spending time with my loved ones.
Joyce Gan Xing Fang CDP Student joyce.gan@u.nus.edu I am taking my B.Soc.Sci (Hons.) in Psychology and M.Soc.Sci. in Psychology (by research) under the Concurrent Degree Programme. With a great interest in connecting with people and serving the community, I have completed my second major in Social Work too.

Currently, I am working alongside Dr Tsai Fen-Fang for my research. I am broadly interested in the psychology of interpersonal relationships and emotional expressions/communications, be it in the romantic realm or in the workplace. I am also curious about incorporating positive psychology elements into interpersonal relationships.
Goh Gabriel PhD Student gabriel.g@u.nus.edu My research interests are in attitudinal research, with a focus on message tailoring to personality factors such as the dark triad.
Jiang Yifan (Christy) PhD Student Social Psychology e0437693@u.nus.edu I am interested in studying the role of motivation and self-regulation in predicting academic achievement.
Kong Yuwei PhD Student Social Psychology e1023888@u.nus.edu I am interested in explaining cultural differences from the perspective of culture and history and exploring complex systems through network analysis. People's attitude toward nature is what I focus on now.
Alicia Lau CDP Student Developmental Psychology e0323668@u.nus.edu I am currently pursuing my Master's Degree under the supervision of Dr Qin Lili. My research interests lie in positive youth development, specifically on the importance of positive experiences, relationships and environments in which youth develop, and how these assets promote positive outcomes.
Gabriel Lau Rong Yang CDP Student Cognitive Psychology gabriel.lau@u.nus.edu Gabriel is currently enrolled in the Concurrent Degree Programme under the mentorship of Associate Professor Stephen Lim to investigate the beneficial effects of learning-by-teaching on higher-order learning outcomes. Gabriel is also working as a part-time research assistant in the Psychology department for Associate Professor Melvin Yap, Associate Professor Eddie Tong, and in the Marketing department for Assistant Professor Adelle Yang. Gabriel's future research interests lie in the social-cognitive aspects of platonic and romantic relationships. Over and above his academic life, Gabriel is well-trained in Mixed Martial Arts, Xiangqi, and the violin. Gabriel has also held notable positions in the Grassroots (Youth Executive Committee and Community Club Management Committee) where he is an active volunteer and organises events for youths and the community.
Ariel Lee PhD Student Social Psychology E0771168@u.nus.edu Interested in academic identity and motivation in minority students.
Lee Russell PhD Student Educational Psychology psylr@nus.edu.sg With a passion for education and teaching, I am interested in a range of topics that relate to student learning and the learning process. In particular, certain areas I have explored in the past are: the curiosity-effort relationship in the context of learning, student self-regulation in higher education and individual factors that affect online learning success. I also have an interest in how language affects knowledge acquisition/understanding and the effect of different grading systems on student motivation and performance. In my free time, I indulge in a variety of hobbies that I will never have enough time for, including but not limited to writing, video production, card games and mixing alcohol.
Leong Utek PhD Student Personality Psychology e0771165@u.nus.edu Broadly, I am interested in advancing healthcare research through the study of personality and individual differences. I am particularly interested in the relationship between personality and treatment adherence in Singapore.
Li Baitong (Lacey) PhD Student Social Psychology e0868992@u.nus.edu I'm currently pursuing a PhD under the supervison of Dr Michelle See. I'm broadly interested in the study of social cognition. In particular, I have studied issues related to social attitudes, identity, bias and culture.
Li Ying (Leena) PhD Student ying_li@u.nus.edu I am interested in social and affective psychology, particularly in topics like how the mindsets and emotions interact with each other and its influence on decisions. Interested in how people constructed the inner worlds in the era of new media, I minored in communication. I am photographing the surroundings and human beings as well as working out at the gym when not working.
Li Zheng (Charlie) PhD Student Social Psychology e0983458@u.nus.edu I am pursuing my PhD under the supervision of Dr Michelle See. I am interested in cross-cultural differences in the processes of attitude formation and attitude change. Specifically, my research attempts to examine whether interpersonal and intrapersonal factors can have different influences on people’s attitudes in different cultures.
Lionel Lim Cheng Liang Masters Student Social Psychology lionel.lim.cheng.liang@u.nus.edu Rousing and interesting comment about being a Master’s student and enjoying it, follow up with funny but self-depreciating comment about questioning sanity of self under Master’s programme. Smart and witty comment about interest in [Emotions] and working with [Dr. Eddie Tong], specify interest in [Appraisals]. Follow up with alternate interest in [Cognition] & [Psycholinguistics], specify [Memory] & [Morphology]. Check rule of three fulfilled, realise checking rule of three results in flouting rule, panic and ignore rule of three. Inspirational Quote about [Perseverance]. Deadpan jokes aside, I do find the aforementioned areas of Psychology to be very interesting areas of study. My other hobbies include simple pleasures like pondering religious concepts, attempting to finish a number of games, making bad jokes, keeping up with the latest news (tech, world and fake) as well as rampant alcoholism!
Travis Lim Masters Student travis.lim@u.nus.edu Hi! I’m Travis, a graduate student in the Department of Psychology at NUS. While I have studied intergroup relations and historical narratives in the past, my present research lies at the intersection of emotions and prejudice - for example, can certain emotions make us more prejudiced? I am also interested in the use of psychology in applied settings.
Nadyanna M. Majeed PhD Student Quantitative Psychology nadyanna@u.nus.edu I am a PhD student in Quantitative Psychology at NUS, supervised by Prof Mike Cheung. Previously, I obtained my MPhil and BSocSc(Hons) in Psychology from SMU where I focused on social/personality and cognitive psychology, especially in relation to stress. Currently, I am primarily an applied statistician/research methodologist, where I frequently collaborate with researchers in various fields to ensure they can get the answers to their research questions. In my free time, I enjoy coding/programming, making music, and advocating for animal welfare.
Jessica Ng PhD Student Social Psychology jessica.ng@u.nus.edu Jessica is keen on improving teaching and learning. Her work focuses on identifying beliefs, mindsets, and behaviors in students and teachers that make them effective. She designs psychologically precise interventions to help individuals adopt adaptive mindsets and behaviors to help them become more effective and/or, to succeed at their goals.
Reiner Ng Wei Jie PhD Student Social Psychology reinerng@u.nus.edu I have interests in understanding how conflicting evaluations can influence our attitudes, and how the resultant attitudes and its properties may further affect the downstream behaviours (e.g., intentions, advocacies, attitude durability, certainty). Primarily, I focus and work on social- and health-related topics using experimental design, survey design, and social media analytics. I hope to integrate these understandings with dyadic and cross-cultural research.
Maureen Ngo Mei Qing Masters Student e0546147@u.nus.edu My research interest lies in youth development, specifically, what happen during this developmental stage that might contribute to youths engaging in risky or offending behaviours. My current research looks at youth delinquency and family factors.
Nina Ye Ni Masters Student ninayeni@u.nus.edu My research interest lies broadly in the socio-cognitive factors of child development; particularly the effects of Theory of Mind and/or parental factors on children's teaching and lying behaviour. I like to think of myself as a sponge - always learning and absorbing as much information as I possibly can. In my free time, I like to bake, hunt for good coffee, and go on hikes.
Oh Yong Sheng Vincent PhD Student Social Psychology vincent.ohys@u.nus.edu I'm working with Dr Eddie Tong on the area of emotions, which I believe to be inextricable from human experience. I'm interested in emotions as applied to a wide range of topics, including social, behavioural, and cognitive antecedents or outcomes, as well as subjective and psychological well-being. In whatever free time that I have, I find great enjoyment in the exquisite emotional quality and imaginativeness that very often characterise the infinite possible worlds of fiction.
Ong Hee Seng Masters Student Social Psychology heeseng.ong@u.nus.edu My research interest lies in social psychology, especially on national identity, inter-group relation and social cognition. Currently, I am pursing the master's program under the supervision of Dr Jia Lile.
Ong Jiehan (Jamie) PhD Student Clinical Psychology e0776001@u.nus.edu I am undertaking a PhD with a focus on Clinical Psychology, specifically on parental factors and adolescent mental health. I am a registered Clinical Psychologist and have been working with children and adolescents in the past decade.
Ong Shi-Wei PhD Student Developmental Psychology shiwei.ong@u.nus.edu I am broadly interested in the socio-cognitive development of children. Particularly, I am curious about how social agents (for example, parents and peers) shape their perception of the world, and how it in turn influence their social behaviours. In my free time, I enjoy watching K-dramas, exploring good dessert places, and playing badminton.
Hyungjun (Jun) Park PhD Student Quantitative Psychology e0437677@u.nus.edu i, I am Jun - the name is pronounced like the month June. I research about how to make sense of incomplete psychological data, under the supervision of Prof Mike Cheung. I try to figure out how to improve upon the methods there already are. I am always looking for friends to discuss about research methods and badminton.
Qian Yichen PhD Student Cognitive neuroscience e0966377@u.nus.edu I am interested in the brain mechanisms supporting our working memory, visual attention and consciousness.
Qian Zongyu PhD Student Cognitive Psychology e0771160@u.nus.edu Hi, I am Zongyu. My broad research area is cognitive psychology, especially psycholinguistics. Before commencing my doctoral studies, I got some research experience in cognitive neural mechanisms in spoken word production during my Master’s study. Currently, I am pursuing my PhD under the supervision of Associate Professor Winston Goh. My research interest is mental processes underlying speech perception and spoken word recognition. In my free time, I enjoy taking photos and shooting videos to record every second in my life.
Titus Quek Wei Yang PhD Student e0026768@u.nus.edu As someone who has been fortunate enough to cross paths with a slew of inspiring teachers over the past 16 years of formal education, it is my sincerest hope to be able to pay it forward by eventually becoming an educator myself. I am currently pursuing my PhD under Dr Jia Lile and my research interest revolves around enhancing academic goal pursuit and student learning. When not working, I enjoy spending my time watching sitcoms, catching up with loved ones, and immersing myself in a boatload of video games.
Faith Amanda Siauw CDP Student Cognitive Psychology faith.siauw@u.nus.edu I am currently enrolled in the Concurrent Degree Programme, under the supervision of Dr. Steven Pan. I am interested in applying insights from cognitive psychology to education. In particular, I am exploring how prequestions and pretesting can affect how learners subsequently allocate their study time. Besides my pursuits in psychology, I am also pursuing a second major in Japanese Studies.
Melvin Sim Masters Student Quantitative Psychology e0012418@u.nus.edu I am under the supervision of Prof Mike Cheung and my research interests lie within the field of quantitative psychology. Particularly I have an interest in machine learning methods and the statistical implications of massive data sets. In my spare time I enjoy pondering the effects of gaming, parenting and religion on the human lifespan. In my spare spare time I enjoy reading science fiction, gaming and sleeping.
Rachel Sng Wei Yi CDP Student Social Psychology e0324638@u.nus.edu I am currently pursuing my B.Soc.Sci. (Hons.) in Psychology and M.Soc.Sci. in Psychology (by research) under the supervision of Dr Michelle See. I am interested in understanding the mechanisms behind intergroup relations and the implications of shared experiences of discrimination.
Sophia Song Danial Masters Student Cognitive Psychology e0771164.u.nus.edu My interest primarily lies in how people perceive causal events and learn from the environment around them. In the future, I hope to investigate this further in atypical development to gain a better well-rounded understanding of the mechanisms of learning and conditioning. In my free time I read horror manga and play with my cat. My favourite Kardashian is Kim.
Sun Pengyuan (Chiko) Masters Student p.sun@u.nus.edu I’m pursuing my Masters degree under the supervision of Associate Professor Derbyshire. I’m broadly interested in the neural mechanisms of pain perception, in particular, to explore the Offset Analgesia phenomenon using EEG/ERP.
Desiree Tan Masters Student Personality Psychology e0435639@u.nus.edu I am interested in personality disorders, especially the Alternative Model of Personality Disorders in DSM-5.
Tan Jun Liang Jonathan PhD Student e0771163@u.nus.edu My research interest lies in behavioural addiction, particularly gaming disorder. I am interested in exploring the influence of personality and psychological processes on the development and maintenance of problematic gaming, as well as the possible interventions to mitigate it.
Tan Shao An Daniel Masters Student dsa@u.nus.edu Daniel is a curious inquisitive who questions the mundane to fuel his fire for investigation. When not doing research, Daniel enjoys working out at the gym, playing tabletop roleplaying or single player games, writing, music, drawing, learning new things and tweaking workflows to increase productivity.
Tan Yia Chin PhD Student Social Psychology yiachin@u.nus.edu Yia Chin's general research interest lies in the area of goal pursuit. Particularly, she is interested in investigating the underlying processes and factors that help or hinder people in pursuing their long-term goals. Long-term goals are fraught with obstacles and setbacks, and at best, lose their novelty after some time. How can we help people to maintain a sustained dedication towards their goals, navigate around obstacles and bounce back from failures? She hopes to contribute to a better understanding in this area, so that psychology as a field is better equipped to come up with more effective advice or interventions to facilitate people in achieving their desired goals in life. When taking breaks, Yia Chin enjoys decorating the whiteboard (in the graduate students' room) with character drawings from the PHD Comics and taking comfort that graduate students across the world are all in this "together".
Tao Weicheng PhD Student Cognitive Neuroscience weicheng.tao@u.nus.edu My current research focuses on using EEG to study how people perceive and avoid loss. I am also interested in developing algorithms to detect and remove EEG artifacts. Besides research, I am good at playing badminton and making dumplings.
Teo Min Yu Masters Student Social Psychology minyu.teo@u.nus.edu Min Yu is a Masters student at the Group for Persuasion and Evaluative Processes and is working with Dr Michelle See. She is interested in examining how various aspects of people’s identities (e.g., their group memberships, values) contribute to asymmetries in people’s experiences in intergroup interactions.
Teo Qiao Kang PhD Student tqiaokang@u.nus.edu My research interests are in mindsets and self-regulation. I hope to make an impact in the lives of learners by advancing knowledge on effective self-regulation and psychological well-being, and by refining and scaling up interventions.
Teo Tzee Siong Elijah Masters Student e0046900@u.nus.edu Hi everyone! My research interest lies primarily in the area of correctional rehabilitation. Specifically I am keen to know how treatment programmes can be enhanced via implementation science. My current research looks at adverse childhood experiences and delinquency.
Adrian Toh PhD Student Clinical Psychology adrian.toh@u.nus.edu I am undertaking a PhD with a focus on Clinical Psychology, specifically on anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. I am a registered Clinical Psychologist and have been practising for more than a decade of experience working in the field of mental health, caring for individuals with health and mental health struggles.
Aloysius Tok Yee Fun CDP Student Moral Psychology aloysius.tok@u.nus.edu My interests lie broadly in experimental psychology. Currently, I am interested in how we may study morality in the lab with novel paradigms that resemble real-life moral decision making, rather than deciding whether a trolley should kill one or five. I believe such work is important for a view of morality that's grounded in reality, especially in an age where the out-sourcing of moral judgments and actions to automated entities such as self-driving cars and other emergency algorithms seems imminent.

Besides academic endeavours, my other projects include adjusting to a single cup of coffee a day and scheming a cat playground for my future cat David.
Valentino Emil Chai Masters Student valentino@u.nus.edu I harbour an interest in intergroup cooperation and conflict, as well as competition (both intergroup and interpersonal). These interests stemmed from my personal experiences with intense competition as a student and athlete growing up. Recreationally, I enjoy floorball, reading, and strategy games.
Wang Binhui Masters Student Social Psychology e0437686@u.nus.edu I am interested in understanding discrimination and its emotional consequences.
Yao Ruitong Masters Student Cognitive Neuroscience ruitong_yao@u.nus.edu I am working under the supervision of Assistant Professor Camilo Libedinsky. My research focuses on the function of the rostral part of the dorsal premotor cortex.
Yu Liwen Masters Student Developmental Psychology e0966388@u.nus.edu I am interested in the mechanisms behind children's lying behaviour and would like to explore how to promote honesty.